What Did You Do to Celebrate Passing the Bar Exam?

James DeCinti

Angino & Rovner Harrisburg, Pa.

At the appointed time, a friend and I drove to the office where the results were posted. We both passed, so we began to look for someplace, anyplace, that had beer. We found Mo’s, a little corner bar filled with construction workers and the like, and we had a beer, maybe two.
My friend and I part­­ed ways, and I began my journey home. I stopped at a truck stop and bought a cigar, maybe two, to savor on the ride.

When I got home to my wife, who was then five months pregnant with our first child, I gave her a big kiss, maybe two.

Lajoyce Porter

D’Andre, Peterson, Bobus & Bruscino

San Francisco

I was positioned at my home computer when the results were to be online.I entered my name and the com­­pu­­ter was search­­­ing, but it was taking so long I was convinced the system couldn’t find my name because I’d failed. Finally, my name appeared and I began scream­­­ing “I passed” and jump­ing up and down. My two girls, ages 4 and 11 at the time, came running downstairs. I grabbed their hands and we jumped around in a “Ring Around the Rosie” fashion. My oldest daughter asked, “Why are we jumping around?” My youngest replied, “Be­cause Mommy is happy.”

Greg Zenon

Assistant district attorney

Brooklyn, N.Y.

I taught test preparation for years from Pre-SATs through GMATs. One of my most successful test-prep methods was helping students set up reward systems worthy of the time sacrificed and forever lost studying.

So, during my three hellish months of study for the bar exam, I devised an elaborate reward system for myself involving booze and video games.

I devoted at least 14 hours a day, six days a week to study with one free day allowed. On my first free day, I bought a PlayStation on eBay.

I then spent each free day for the next three months amassing (but not touching) games and really good booze from single malts to fine bourbons to stuff like Midori, ouzo, Drambuie and Chartreuse.

The night the bar exam ended, I rushed home, tore into the ouzo first, sat down with my PlayStation, and started having some serious fun. This didn’t stop for two months. When I discovered I had passed, I was thoroughly dried- and gamed-out. So I logged on to eBay and sold the games and the system (wouldn’t have sold the liquor even if I hadn’t killed it all), along with all my study books and tapes. Made a profit, too.

This month’s answers came from responses to the Question of the Week feature in the ABA Journal eReport.